Outstanding Fines & Pardon Eligibility

Paying Fines and Getting a Pardon

Court-ordered fines and surcharges do not go away, ever. They will always be considered outstanding until the time that they are paid off in full. Until your fine is paid your sentence is not complete. Even if you served 10 years in jail, completed everyday of your sentence and you were a model prison, your sentence will not be considered complete if there is even a few dollars outstanding on any fine that you were given in court.

If your sentence is not complete you cannot apply for a pardon. Therefore you need to pay your fine and THEN complete your waiting period before becoming eligible to apply.

We understand that it can be difficult to remember whether a fine was paid 20, 30, or even 40 years ago. If we discover that you have an outstanding amount with the courts during the course of our investigations, we will advise you immediately and, while your pardon may be delayed because of an unpaid fine, you will not “lose” the processing fees that you have already paid toward your file.

We simply place a hold on your file until you meet the pardon eligibility criteria established by the Parole Board and will submit your pardon at that time.

When applying for a pardon you must not owe anything to the courts or to any victims involved in your conviction or your pardon will be delayed. Whether you contact the courts yourself or you have us do it for you, you will have to face these financial burdens at some point.

Do not assume that fines have been forgotten. They are on the books somewhere and they have a habit of turning up at the most inopportune times.

Court Imposed Fines as a Part of All of Your Sentence

A fine is a very common sentence particularly among summary (smaller, less serious) offences. For example, if you were arrested for a DUI there is a very good chance you were also ordered to pay a fine. Similarly, fines seem to apply to many non-violent offences like theft under, mischief, possession, etc. But keep in mind it is possible to receive additional demands from the court as well. Probation + a fine is very common. In the DUI example the combination is often driving suspension + a fine.

Outstanding Fines – Proof of Fine Payments

There seems to be a common misconception that the courts will track a person down and force them to pay outstanding fine. This is false and it will ultimately be up to you to prove to the Parole Board of Canada that any fines imposed have already been taken care of.

The court has no obligation to chase after a person who has been given a fine, restitution, compensation order, or surcharge in conjunction with a criminal conviction.

On the day that you were sentenced, you (or your lawyer) were given a document that instructed you how to pay your debt to the courts. That was your official notice and is sometimes the only warning a person will receive.

Some courts do send out reminders but many do not. And even those courts that do send out notices will eventually give up on a person. This only means that the court has decided that it has better things to do than to chase after you. It does not negate the fact that you were ordered to pay the fine in the first place.

Perhaps the confusion lies in that sentencing documents often iterate that failure to pay a fine will result in serving a certain number of days in jail.

This very rarely happens. The police cannot see whether a criminal fine has been paid or not on their systems so if they pull you over for speeding, for instance, they do not necessarily see anything relating to that fine you received in court.

Waiting Periods for a Pardon and Fine Payments

Once your fine is paid you are then required to wait the mandatory period before becoming eligible to apply for a pardon. Keep in mind this also applies to surcharges and penalties. So if you’re fine was $100 but you received an additional $10 for interest or whatever, it would not matter to the Parole Board of Canada if you paid the $100. The court would still have an outstanding balance of $10 and the Parole Board would consider it as an incomplete sentence. In other words you would not be eligible for your pardon.

The unpaid fine is actually a very common problem for people applying for a pardon. Prior to the Conservative government amendments to the pardon program in Canada fines older than 15 years did not require a proof of payment to be submitted with the pardon application. However, after the changes came into effect the parole board required that ALL fines be paid.

We have had several clients with fines going back 30 years or more who found themselves ineligible for a pardon simply because here was an outstanding balance at the court house. While we agree that the sentence should be completed, we believe that the Parole Board has taken the fine requirement too far.

A fair balance would be to require unpaid fines to be paid but fines that were paid following the waiting periods should not result in additional waiting periods. It would be more beneficial if an additional monetary amount was imposed, rather than additional years added to the applicant’s waiting period.

Our Advice:

Pay your fines right away. Ideally pay them the same day you finish in court. And always keep the receipt.

About Birgit Granberg

85 Comments

I can 100% agree with this statement. I thought I had all fines “paid” only to find that when applying for a pardon in 2007, the great people of the National Pardon Centre found an outstanding fine from 1997, 10 years ago…Well to make a story short, that fine was paid off in late 2007 and the centre has recetly applied for my Pardon…Was it worth the wait…Absoulutly….Thanks to all those who worked on my file!!

Speeding and parking tickets will probably have to be paid off before the Parole Board will grant your pardon but they are not criminal fines so there is no wait period after they have been paid before you become eligible for your pardon.

I was eligible to apply for my pardon in September 2010 and was getting ready to do so. Recently I recieved a letter from Revenue Services of British Columbia informing me I had two outstanding fines. (victim surcharge?) My charges were indictable and I was convicted. After my fines are paid, how long will I have to wait until I am elegible for my pardon?

You will likely have to wait 5 years before you become eligible for your pardon once your surcharges have been paid. Keep in mind that you will want to begin the application process at least one year before you actually become eligible as it can take a long time for us to gather all of the necessary info for your file.

My question is : I got a DUI over 2 years ago, I havent been notified or even sent out a single reminder or ticket. I did get a criminal record B/C if the charges tho, and also issued a $1000 fine in court. Im wanting to go to Vegas at the end of the month, but would have to cross the U.S border to fly out, do you think I will be stopped at the borderB/Cof my outstanding fine, and my DUI charge?

DUI is the one charge the Americans are quite tolerant of although I would suggest travelling with court documents to prove the nature of the offence if it comes up. They also have the right to refuse you if they want to. Ideally you would get a pardon before crossing but the law does say you are in your right to go. Best luck.

My daughter’s father left us when I was 4 months pregnant. He has 2 previous children that he does not know or support (as well as my child.) Over a year ago I filed for child support.. He settled out of court–ended up paying retro-active support, current support etc…He did not want to step foot into a court house… He owes the courts money (outstanding court ordered fines) from several DUI’s that he had more than 7 years ago… (Years before I met him) He does not have a drivers license. If such a person owes the courts $5000, what will happen if they go to court for another issue??? For example he has recently stopped paying child support and he has NOT fulfilled his part of the out of court settlement!! It is mandatory that he get life insurance on himself. It has been 8 months and no life insurance. So my lawyer called and said he’s making a court date! Will the courts approach him on the outstanding fines (court ordered) ???? Could he face sentencing??? or do they pick up on this.. I here that they wont chase you.. but dont put yourself in front of a judge?? Please I need some feed back… Thanks…

The courts may not pick up on the outstanding fines, particularly if he is appearing at a different court house than where the fines originally came from. Another issue is that he probably won’t be appearing before a the criminal section but, rather, the family section of the court, even if it is in the same city as his earlier convictions. I suggest you mention this to your lawyer and see what he or she has to say about the situation.

I recently began the process of applying for my pardon and had discoverred that I had a victim surcharge fine. I was never aware of this and contacted my defense lawyer and he even gave me in writing that he never told me of such a fine. The court documents do not show anywhere that I was imposed this fine, nor was it ever mentioned in the court proceedings. How am I at fault for not knowing about a fine that was never acknowledged to me nor was even informed about? I have since paid the fine but have made repeated trips to the court house to get a copy of any documentation that shows I had to pay such a fine.

What can I do now to speed up my pardon process as I have been told I have to wait 5 yrs before I can put this behind me? Why does this fine have to affect my application for the pardon process?

Ooof. An outstanding surcharge is always a very frustrating situation because, often, a person has paid their fine in good faith but simply never realized that the surcharge existed. Unfortunately, there isn’t much that can be done in this type of scenario.

The Criminal Records Act states the following:

“4. A person is ineligible to apply for a pardon until the following period has elapsed after the expiration according to law of any sentence, including a sentence of imprisonment, a period of probation and the payment of any fine, imposed for an offence:”

Because of this, they will not grant your pardon until your surcharge has been paid and you have waited the required period.

The following link provides some additional information about victim fine surcharges:

Furthermore, according to sec. 737(8) of the Criminal Code, the court must inform you by way of written notice of your surcharge so there has to be a court document out there somewhere that informed you of this charge. It IS possible that your lawyer never explained it to you properly (court documents can be very difficult to understand) but sadly that is not a valid excuse in the eyes of the Parole Baord for not having paid your surcharge. Unfortunately, unless you can get the court to put it in writing that they never issued you written notice of the surcharge, you will have to wait out your eligibility for your pardon.

The US shouldn’t be able to tell if you have any unpaid fines unless you have an outstanding warrant.

If you have outstanding criminal fines, the Court can actually issue a warrant for your arrest. This rarely happens, but the possibility is certainly there.

Furthermore, if a person has a number of outstanding parking tickets, for example, the Crown can set a court date for you. If you fail to appear for that court date (which is a criminal charge), then a warrant can be issued for your arrest.

If a warrant has been issued, then the US may be able to see this on their system and could detain you.

I was charged and convicted and paid fines for said charges 25 years ago. Now in my attempts to get my pardon the provincial court pardons clerk now has my criminal record(do he have to release it to me ?) and says they have no record of fines being paid as a result of archive data transfer from paper to digital. What do I do? Stupid question here. The fee for pardons has now gone up Feb. 12 2012, because of mail strike my record check took almost a year to get back to me does the application for pardon process begin when you request your records or when you send in fee?

I had a 20 year summary case I paid I lost the receipt I think they bank on this to make money I also am having a hard time getting the proof I was also told I had an open warrant since 2010 on this case I never knew about I lived at same address for 10 years It also starts over when you pay again Like an open case I’m stalling paying mine Like yourself I’m doing everything in my power to find proof They still have copies of paper files to And micro chips dating back to 1990

Unfortunately, you will be subject to the new fee and to the new pardon eligibility rules.

If the court simply cannot confirm whether the fine was paid or not, you can swear an affidavit attesting that it was paid 25 years ago and that should be enough for the Parole Board. If, however, the court shows that the fine was never paid then I’m afraid you have no choice but to pay it and then wait 5 or 10 years before you can submit your application for a record suspension.

I have already sent my application off to the parole board…I received a confirmation of receipt but I think I might have a parking ticket in NS will this affect my application, could it be denied for this reason…

Hello Birgit, first I want to say thanks for answering everyones questions. In doing so, you have answered many of mine.

I was convicted of indidble offences in 1998. after i finished my year of parole, I asked my parole officer what about my fines. she said I had no fines, just community service and 1 year parole. I was certain I had fines. After 10 years past I for the first time heard about pardons. I was excited to apply. My job required a criminal record check, they were aware of my 1 and only convictions. my criminal record showed the fines as part of my sentencing. i received an application to apply for a pardon from a parole office I had work related ties to. the first question on the pardon request form asked something like; “Have you ever been convicted of a crime where fines have been levied against you in the past fifteen years?”. the workers at the parole office told me if anyone could legitemately answer no to that question, then the date of their conviction would be confirmed and they would pretty much be “rubber stamped” a pardon. is that true? in Feb. 2013 it will have been 15 years since I was convicted. Isn’t there a statue of limitations on my fines? hence their first question on the pardon request form? thanks for any help.

Prior to 2010, the Parole Board only required that applicants provide fine payment information if the fine was issued within the past 15 years. After Bill C 23A passed in July 2010, however, that all changed. The Board now requires proof of payment for all fines, regardless of how old they are.

Sorry to hear that you were misinformed, Jason. Let this be a lesson to all that the most reliable way to verify the status of your fines is to contact the court where you were convicted.

I applied for a pardon, spent 500.00 so far only to find out my fines were paid but a surcharge of 50.00 was not paid 15 yrs ago and that I now have to wait another 5 yrs to apply again. I wasted 500.00 so far. Why do the courts not advise you of this when you pay your fines. This was for a dui. which I foolishly had a lawyer take care of. so my dui cost me $5,000 15 yrs ago and I still cannot get this removed for another 5 yrs. This cost me my job as well. I will be a senior in 5 yrs. so I do not see the point in applying again. I am sure I,m not the only one that this has happened to. Does the Parole board seriously believe that people just leave these surcharges unpaid after the fines are paid to purposely ruin any chances for a pardon. I believe pardons are a scam and it is definitely time for a change in government. Yet child molesters like Graham James get pardoned and Conrad Black bilks millions out of the Canadian people and are welcomed with open arms into this country. Whats wrong with this system. I guess it depends on how much money you have.

I have been in arrears for child support for some time i lost my job in 08 and went back to school now am working. My support accumulated durring this time and i am struggling to pay it off is this going to affect my chances at getting a pardon? If so is there any way i can get the arrears set up to a payment plan so i can get a pardon?

This could affect your ability to receive a pardon if it comes to the attention of the Parole Board. It isn’t a criminal fine, however, so setting up some sort of schedule for payments may satisfy them. You should speak with a lawyer or the court regarding a payment plan.

Hi, i’m completely frustrated at the way things work. I have applied in sept 2010. At that moment, the price to get a pardon fast was $631 (something like that) Since then the price has doubled. What i dont understand is why am i put at the end of the list because i supposly didnt pay the $600 somewhat $$ to the federal so that they could treat my demand faster then the ones that payed the minimum price. That means that i’ll never get my pardon. Also, i was told that its because of the new law that came out in febuary 2011 i think that the gouverment decided he was going to treat the demands that he got payed for (600$ somewhat $$) I signed for a pardon with the price at (that moment) of $631 for a rush pardon. I’m insulted and will consult because, theres something wrong here. i purchased a service at a price and now its like if i didnt pay so i dont get service.

Yes. You have to pay all fines, restitutions, surcharges, etc. and then wait 5 or 10 years (depending on the type of offence) before you can apply for your pardon. Unfortunately, there is no way around this requirement.

I too have been given the bait and switch of the “victim surcharge fine of $50”. I paid my $500 fine back in 1995. Recently applied for my pardon and am now being told about this mystery surcharge. Certainly I was not assessed such a charge 17 years ago, I paid all fines that were levied in my judgement in full. When I inquired about it I was told their must have been some sort of letter sent me about this (which there was not) after the fact.

You mentioned that all fines have a court record of a letter being sent. When I asked about this mystery letter I was told they have no idea where the record of this letter is, but they assume it must have been sent to me.

Where does the burdern of proof lie? If the courts cannot produce a record of this letter ever being sent to me does that clear my way for a pardon without having to wait another 5 years?

I understand how frustrating this whole situation must be and unfortunatley it is a common senario that we see every day as you can see by previous blog posts. Basically it boils down to that unless you can prove the surcharge was paid back in 1995, you would have to pay it now and wait the 5 years. The Parole Board and the law surrounding pardons are very firm that all fines must be paid and the 5/10 year wait time must apply to all fines. I wish I had better news for you.

Perfect. A little hard to prove I paid a fine I was never given! Am I wrong in my assessment that this is a poorly veiled ploy by the government to make pardons hard to get? It seems pretty strange that they would assess these surcharge fines after the fact of the court date and then keep quiet about them for 20 years. There is no other government fine where they don’t ensure payment by way of an arrest warrant, attaching them to a motor vehicles renewal, a tax refund etc…

Seems to me like the only way one would know about these phantom fines is to have the knowledge of this swindle and proactively ask the courts about them.

Hi, I started the process for a pardon in October 2010. i have since learned that i indeed still had an unpaid fine. I have tried several time without success to settle this fine however the courts are adamant that there is no way for me to pay this fine as it has been written off. This is fine and dandy however it seems i cannot go through the final phase of applying for a pardon without paying this fine. Has anyone ever heard off or dealt with a similar situation?. I am seriously going around in circles with no light in sight.

That is a terrible situation indeed. This is definitely a rare situation, but I have seen this before and the courts should be able to “reverse” the fine being written-off, which would allow you to pay it. If that does not work then I would suggest having the court give you something in writing stating that they have “written-off” the fine and therefore they are unable to let you pay it and that the court considers the matter closed. Then present that to the Parole Board of Canada with your application. I would suspect that asking them to provide you something in writing that they do not want the money should help get them to allow you to pay the fine.

I just applied for a pardon found out I have an unpaid speeding ticket from 20 yrs ago which I was sure I paid , for some strange reason they have no record of this no surprise it will affect me now I have to wait another 5 yrs before I can reapply this is really stupid , I thought the people of Canada would have a say on the laws that get passed or changed since the government is suppose to work for the people and the people have to agree with all the changes they are doing , I thought everyone deserves a second chance in life , not accourding to this government unless you are rich , at least other countries have statues of limitations on things like this , they say canada was suppose to follow British law which does have statues of limitations my question is do we live in Canada or Russia ??? Is there anything I can do about this situation of the unpaid fine I’m almost 50 to have to wait another 5 yrs over something this trivial I don’t understand this is discrimination !!! Because of 1 mistake take a lifetime to try and fix not worth it any suggestion on what to do

I would be inclined to agree with you but unfortunately we have a Conservative government in power in Ottawa and they would see things a different way. I don’t know of any resolution to this short of a court challenge.

I had a dui and a 1000 dollar fine back in 2006. I never renewed my license and moved to the states in 2010. I’m pretty sure I payed my fine but not sure. If I went back to Canada to visit can I get refused at the border or stopped in Canada for this unpayed fine??I do have a valid license in the US.

I have a criminal fine from 1994. I paid the fine in 2011. I was so looking forward in 8 months from now to apply for my pardon. I was searching the PBC website and to my dismay the 3 year waiting period has been dropped. Now do I have to wait another 2 years and 8 months before I can apply for a Record Suspension as they now call it?

Sadly yes, you do have to wait the extra time. You can thank Stephen Harper and the Conservative government. Of course you can begin the paperwork now and at a minimum I suggest starting a year in advance but we can’t get around the eligibility date.

Hi, i recieved a letter in the post recentley regarding a speeding fine in feb 2008. The courts have now passed it onto a debt collector over night with extra charges. Do i have to pay or has it expired? Need advice please, cheers

I am a travel agent and have a client who needs a passport to travel to Mexico with his family, He has outstanding fines for a DUI and a suspended licence , I am not sure if these need to be cleared before he can get a passport. Thank you in advance for your help

Hi, I was charged in 2007 and did 2 years probation. Did all of my probation, and went into the court where I was charged to pay my 1400 restitiution fine. At the time, I was told at the head office where you pay all fine, that the restitiuion order had no time paying period, and they told me is was not payable unless the bank ” to be filed in civil court ” otherwise there was nothing to pay. They had nothing for me to pay, so that I couldn’t pay it there. So I went down to civil court and there was nothing filed. Over the past few years, I have gone down to the civil court , but nothing has been filed…it’s been 7 years. I am still very confused that the court would of told me, that there was nothing to pay, but I thought they must know what they are talking about …. I recently started to begin the process of a pardon, ordered my court papers, and scratched at the very bottom of it the actual stamped court papers states” free standing compensation order to the bank ” I can’t believe that we actually went to the court, with money in hand, and the civil courts, and I guess not understanding the total process, as it’s very confusing….I am sure the bank has written off this by now, and not sure where to go and what to do…do you see anything in here that could help…..

Hi, I was recently stoped for a DUI , I’ve been to my preliminary & arraignment hearings, sentencing will be on the 2/5/2015. In the meantime I applied for the ARD program to be refused due to my licence being suspended, I’m told the suspension is due to an unpaid speeding fine from 20 years ago. If I pay this fine & submit a re-application for ARD I will bro reconsidered or would I have to be pardoned first? I have a Uk/European licence, both incidents were whilst I was on vacation., the DUI is my first offence.

Hi, I recently received my court information form completed by the Alberta courts as it pertains to my record suspension . The results indicate that I have a small balance owing of $20 from a $200 fine I am certain I would have paid the fine in full however it’s been more than 20 years since the offense and almost 20 years since I’ve left the province unfortunately I do not have proof of payment. Can you provide the following answers please;

1. once this fine has been paid, do I need to have another court information form completed which will include the present date? 2. will my record suspension be denied due to this outstanding fee and current payment date? 3. re there any additional step’s that I should be taking ?

I’m very sorry but here is the bad news. The Parole Board will consider that outstanding $20 as part of your sentence. Since the sentence was technically not completed because of the outstanding amount you will have to wait another 5 or 10 years from the day that is fine paid to apply for your pardon.

This is, of course, ludicrous but it happens all the time. In the past any fine that was over 15 years old didn’t require proof of payment. But thanks to the Conservative government you are stuck waiting for a long time before you can get that criminal record sealed.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. If you need to cross the border a waiver is still an option to you. Give me a call if you would like to discuss.

About 25 years ago, when I first came to this country I made a mistake and took some extra money from social assistance when I changed addresses. The lawyer who represented me did not help me at all and I did time for a year and told I have to pay a fee of $30,000. I had just gotten a job as an engineer and I lost it and ever since I have not been able to get any kind of job in that field or other fields either…At the time my wife and child was left alone at home …we suffered so much.. I tried for a pardon a few years ago but because I still owe the fee I was declined. I am 65 years old now and I will never be able to have that money …does this mean I can never get my record suspended/pardon? The company I was working for closed and I need to look for another job and these days everyone wants to see your record..how can I provide for me and my wife? Is there a way to prove to the government that I’ve been a good citizen of this country and paid my taxes and have not done any wrong doing ever since and get a pardon based on that? or maybe just for the fact that it’s been so long since this has happened and I did do time and have not had a real job my whole life…isn’t that enough punishment? or maybe for my peace of mind because of my age?

i lost my drivers license almost 3 years ago due to a driving with no insurance and got fined i kniw this post is about pardons and such and i may be in the wrong place for this but i have been trying to speak to someone. if i go in with a good faith payment is there a chance i can get my license back with that payme t and be put on a payment plan. thank you in advanced and sorry if i shouldnt place the comment here.

So I applied for a pardon in 2008, I was denied due to owing this $150 fee. Well to this day I still dont know where to find it or where I owe It to or even how to find it. So if I find it an I pay it will I have to wait to apply for my pardom again? Wil I have to repay the pardon fee? Wher would I find out?

No need to repay a pardon fee. If you are planning to process a waiver with us we would get that document for you. Otherwise it’s a simple matter of formally requesting a copy from the Parole Board of Canada. For more information feel free to give me a call.

Hi, I was charged in 2006, but never convicted with theft under 5000, i went through the adult diversion program and was ordered to pay restitution I did all that, now i have a warrant for my arrest, and when i notifed my local police, they cant locate my file. And they cant find the papers which shows I payed that money..I’m so scared am I going to go to jail

Hi, I have an order of restitution of 20k that must be paid, I’ve recently done a search to see if there has been any court orders surrounding this 20k restitution. At the time of conviction my lawyers advised that it was a conditional restitution meaning that in my case the victim (Financial Institution) could seek judgement of up to 20k in restitution against me. Now that my 5 years is up I am finding out that it must be paid in order to get a Canadian Pardon. Can this fine be negotiated or reduced? Can I approach the financial institution and see if they’re willing to take 10k? If so, is there any documents I would need from them serving that we handled it civilly amongst us? As I understand it, they needed to file it to seek judgement of restitution. What can one do in this situation? I am hoping I can reduce the amount and call it a day and move forward with my life. I was never advised that I would need to pay this 20k hence why there was never any payment arrangements set up.

Its tough to say exactly what would happen in a situation like this since the Parole Board is given a lot of leeway in their decisions. However, the Liberal government is planning to make changes to the program so it might be worth waiting to see what happens. Bottom like though – in my opinion – is that you need to take care of the restitution one way or another. Whether its full payment or an agreement for a lesser amount might depend on what happens in the next 12 months to the program.

i paid all fines and restitution but I have a fine moving violation over a grand and I paid it would that stop me from getting a pardon. It has been nearly 10 years since my initial conviction but the moving violation was within the past 2 years.

Theoretically it could. But unless you have a criminal record that involves a long list of driving related crimes then I seriously doubt it. If you would like to discuss feel free to give me a call. Otherwise you could easily apply online to get a file going.

I was convicted of possession of Marijuana in 1977 & fined $500. Shortly after I was convicted of possession for the purpose of trafficking & received an 18 month sentence. I did about 4 months in a correction facility & while I was there I applied to do all my fines concurrently. The facility we were at was an accelerated release program & to make sure we all came out with a fresh start we were instructed by the correction officers to apply to do all time & fines outstanding concurrently. Before we left the facility we were told that all was accepted. Well, 40 years later they don’t seem to have recorded the fine paid. Can I go before a judge to remedy this or is there someone in the system that can ok the fine paid? I do know personally of someone who just said he paid his fine when they didn’t have it as paid & they gave him the paid approval.

This is a common problem that we hope the new government will address. But the bottom line is that if the court is saying the fine isn’t paid you are out of luck. If the court was simply unable to verify that the fine was paid or not then you might have some recourse.

Thanks for your comment. Further to my situation, they have found my handwritten request to have the fine run concurrently with my sentence but cannot find any acceptance or rejection. It’s hard to get info out of the court clerk but it sounds like I have to get it in front of a judge. I think I would have to swear out an affidavit as to the details but it is in Supreme Court so I’m not really sure of the procedure or if my chances are good. I believe it would be done in chambers. Does this make sense? Any thoughts?

Well, the issue is the affidavit woudl only be able to state you requested that the fines been run concurrently and that to your knowledge it had been done so upon leaving the correctional facility.

Has the court noted the fine remains unpaid or that their files have been destroyed? If the fines are noted as destroyed and they cannot provide proof the fine has been paid the you could absolutely proceed with an affidavit.

But if they have stated the fine remains unpaid I am afraid the likelihood of an affidavit working would be slim.

I’m thinking if they cannot say for sure that the fine has not been paid then it should go in my favor. I wrote a letter to the court clerk explaining the circumstances & am waiting reply. Any chance they could push this through [my favor] without going to court based on time lapse & not being totally sure?

I have several public intoxication fines that I have never paid because I didn’t have the money. Its been years and I haven’t heard anything. Is there an interest rate that they charge for failure to pay on time or do they pardon after some time? Should I be worried? If I want to pay then how do I find out about my total fines balance (lost all tickets)? thank you

I was charged and convicted of a summary offense; Disturbing the Peace in 1985 so that’s about 32 years ago. I can’t remember if I paid the fine. I want to apply for a record suspension. How do I go about finding out if I did pay the fine or if I didn’t pay the fine? Do I have to go back to the initial courthouse where I was convicted of this charge exactly at that location or can I go to any courthouse? I have not lived in that town for 32 years. What steps should I take? Thank you

Hi I was a youth like 12 and I have a fine from then so now I waited 7 years for the pardon and I’m 26 now going on 27 and this fucked my hull life upside down to say u got pay the youth fine and then wait another 5 years

Just a bit confused what to do? I am not from Canada but got charged for theft under 5000, (took a pen from walmart) while I was visiting Canada. Was arrested but never got prints taken. They gave me a date to get my prints taken and also a court date but I never went because I left back home to Bermuda. It was about 4.5 years ago now. Just wondering now how to go about applying for my pardon with these circumstances?

Hi there, I read through a few of your articles here. I did have a question though that I hope you could answer. I was wondering, What happens when a police officer shoots someone in the line of duty? I’m pursuing a career in law enforcement and it’s something I’ve always worried about. I would really appreciate any help you could give me!